Stendel hails display of heart and head from 10-man Tykes

Posted Sunday, March 03, 2019 by PA

Barnsley head coach Daniel Stendel felt his side produced one of their best performances of the season to win 3-0 at Southend.

The Tykes were reduced to 10 men when Jacob Brown was sent off 10 minutes before the break for a poor challenge on Shrimpers skipper Sam Mantom.

But the second-placed Tykes were still able to extend their unbeaten run to 15 games, much to the delight of Stendel.

“It was one of the best performances of the season but we’ve played well in a lot of games,” said Stendel.

“We’ve shown here how we can play and it was a good win.

“At half-time I said we could win the game but in the second half it was more important to play with heart. I’m so proud of the performance and in the end it was a deserved win.

“We worked very hard and we work hard in between the games too. We showed today that we’re very strong in the head but there’s a long way to go.

“There’s 11 games to go but we’ll only look at the next one.”

The Tykes looked the more dangerous of the teams in the first half, with Woodrow forcing Southend goalkeeper Nathan Bishop into a good save and Mamadou Thiam twice going close before Brown was dismissed.

But, despite their numerical disadvantage, Barnsley stayed on top after the break and opened the scoring in the 50th minute through Cameron McGeehan.

The Tykes remained on top and doubled their lead in the 73rd minute when ex-Southend loanee Cauley Woodrow fired home Mike Bahre’s through-ball with a smart first-time finish for his 14th goal of the season.

And the visitors then sealed their win in stoppage time when Jordan Green volleyed home after McGeehan had been denied by Bishop.

The defeat extended the Shrimpers’ winless streak to seven games and frustrated manager Chris Powell.

“We played against a very, very good side and we showed our inexperience and naivety,” said Powell.

“We didn’t make the extra man count. We spoke about what to do and went through it as well but we let ourselves too open and Barnsley took advantage.

“I don’t want to be derogatory to anyone but we are where we are with our squad and the injuries we have.

“We still had moments in the first half but we got punished in the second half by a team who I think will go up.

“It’s huge, we need a reaction now and we’re in a real dogfight. We have to take care of ourselves but it’s a very big week coming up next week with three games.”